Following up on my previous posts (links below): Deborah Jones Merritt (Ohio State), Experiential Education:
The ABA Council has proposed expanding the number of required experiential credits at ABA-accredited law schools from six to twelve credits. This is a remarkably modest requirement, representing less than 15% of a student’s JD work. The Council’s memo lays out the extensive research supporting this requirement. For decades, empirical scholars, employers, and law graduates have agreed that newly licensed lawyers lack essential competencies needed to serve clients. Law schools must strengthen the education they provide to prepare students for counseling clients effectively, negotiating intelligently, exploring the full context of client matters, and solving complex problems thoughtfully. Claiming that employers will offer that education abdicates our role as educators and puts clients at risk. …
Recognizing the weight of evidence supporting greater use of experiential education, many opponents to the ABA proposal plead only for more time. They argue that, given the financial and other pressures that the Trump administration is placing on higher education, the ABA should defer implementation of its proposal until 2035 at the earliest. This suggestion completely misreads the anger that the public (including many of our own graduates) feels towards higher education. …
Last year, a colleague from another department observed to our university president that changing course in higher education is like turning an aircraft carrier. The president, who once led the US Naval Academy, responded: “You can turn a Nimitz class aircraft carrier 180 degrees in three and a half minutes.” It’s time to start the engines.
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- ABA, Legal Ed Council Proposes To Double Experiential Learning Accreditation Requirement To 12 Credits
- ABA, Survey on Credits for Experiential Learning Courses: Summary of Results
- Barry Currier (Former Managing Director, ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar):
- Joseph Kearney (Dean, Marquette), Brian Leiter (Chicago) & Derek Muller (Notre Dame), ABA Should Withdraw Proposal To Double The Number Of Required Experiential Learning Credits
- Brian Leiter (Chicago), Law Schools Should Oppose an ABA Proposal to Double the Experiential Learning Credits From 6 to 12
- Derek Muller (Notre Dame), Hard Questions About Experiential Learning, Legal Education, And The ABA
- Derek Muller (Notre Dame), Inside the ABA’s Relentless Quest to Make Law School Accreditation More Tedious and More Expensive
- Reuters, ABA Plan To Double Experiential Learning Accreditation Requirement Spurs Criticism About Accreditor Overreach
- Reuters, ABA Proposal To Increase Number Of Experiential Credits Required Of Law School Graduates
- Reuters, Deans Oppose ABA’s Plan To Double Experiential Learning Credits For Law Students
- Daniel Rodriguez (Northwestern), ABA Accreditation Once More: Are They Making Me Eat My Words?
- David Yellen (Miami), The ABA Standards And Regulatory Modesty
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